“And the Band Played On” is a film released in 1993 by Roger Spottiswoode that focuses on an epidemic discovered in the early 1980s. In this film, epidemiologist Don Francis notes an increased death rate among homosexual men in an urban area of the United States. This disease that affects homosexual men eventually spreads to more people of all genders and ages and is identified as AIDS. This film covers all aspects of the AIDS epidemic, including research, politics and society. It is shown how much the research department had to work to find the cause of the disease, how it is spreading and identify the virus. The political side has shown that for a long time this disease was ignored because it only affected homosexual men, who at that time were not considered important members of society. Furthermore, this film shows the social side of the disease; Homosexual men were upset by the closure of the bathhouses as research had shown it was one of the main places where the disease was sexually transmitted to others. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay One of the policies that members of the CDC were trying to implement was the closure of bathhouses which was the most common place where homosexual men spread the disease to others; Bathhouses were found to be where most people with AIDS contracted the disease. Many gay men were angry about this idea because it was one of the few places they could go to openly express their sexuality without being judged, so they had an emotional and aggressive reaction to this policy. In the scene where the epidemiologist tells the audience about some of the findings, the audience disagrees with the policy because they don't have all the knowledge about the spread of the disease. Lack of education about AIDS has negatively affected policy development. Since gay men were the audience directly affected by this policy, the CDC should have provided more information about the disease, what they think it is, all the possible ways it is spreading, and what they can do to avoid it. This way, the public could make an informed decision. The bathhouses were finally closed in 1985, when AIDS began to spread to people of all genders and ages, including newborns. Since this disease was finally recognized by the government, the media and the public, it not only affected gay men, heterosexual people and children. This shows that awareness, public interest and media interest in what helped the development of this policy. Later in the film, the CDC decides to create a policy that homosexual men should not be allowed to donate blood due to their chances of contracting the disease and spreading it. blood transfusion. From the beginning there have been many barriers to policy implementation that have influenced policy development. First, because AIDS was only found among homosexual men, there was a lack of interest from the government and the public. Furthermore, there was a lack of funding from the government because it did not want to invest in a disease that only affected gay men, who were not considered important members of society. Homosexual people were seen as a minority since at that time they were stigmatized and the government overlooked the disease that affected them; eventually, it began to spread to others through injections of unsafe drugs. 1983.
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